Chat and MOOs (and the related MUDs and MUSHes) are two popular forms of communication on the Internet. Both rely on real-time communication—the display of messages as they are sent. Under certain conditions, they can prove to be useful sources of information about current and cultural events. Major news organizations, such as CNN, will use chat to interview public figures or industry leaders. These sessions will be advertised and thousands of participants may attend. Major Web search sites such as Lycos and Yahoo! host regular chat sessions on topics including entertainment and finance. (Everyone who attends these public sessions does not contribute to the discussion, fortunately. Most sessions involving public figures and celebrities are moderated.)

If you learn of a scheduled public chat session relevant to your conversation, join it and record a transcript of the session. If your browser or your chat program doesn't allow you to record a transcript, you can copy relevant passages from the session and paste them into a word processing file.

If no relevant chats are scheduled, edited transcripts of chat sessions are available on the Web. The CNN Chat page provides links to edited sessions at http://www.cnn.com/COMMUNITY/chat/transcripts/. Other news organizations and Web search sites (such as Yahoo!) host chat sessions on various topics and provide access to transcripts. Yahoo! also provides transcripts of past sessions for your review.

Locating Chat and MOO Transcripts: To search for Chat and MOO transcripts, use the search phrase "chat transcripts" or "MOO transcripts" in combination with a keyword or phrase related to your area of interest. For example, you might search for "chat transcript" and "iraq war" on Google, Yahoo!, or MSN Search.

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